Process of forming compo caps for columns.



No. 69:,704.v Patented Jan. 2|, I902.

& E. s. KENNEDY. PRocEss or resume com o CAPS FOR commas.

' (Application filed. A 1-. 1 01.

oooooooo jay-a. J 4

K n "H II I' w 11 w "1 KW! M H IlT "'2' n M W I No. 69!,704. Patented la n. 2|, I902.

' E. s. KENNEDY. v

PROCESS OF FORMING GOMPU GAPS FOR CULUMNS.

(Application filed Apr. 6, 1901.) (No Model.) v 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

. IH HI UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDGAR S. KENNEDY, OF \VASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

PROCESS OF FORMING COMPO CAPS FOR COLUMNS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 691,704, dated January 21, 1902.

Application filed April 6, 1901. Serial No. 54,652. (No specimens.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, EDGAR S. KENNEDY, a resident of Washington, District of Columbia, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Processes of Forming Compo Caps for Columns, which invention is fully set forth in the following specification.

My invention relates to the art of molding, and more particularly to the art of molding what are known in theart as compo caps for columns of ornamental mantels and similar structures. In such structures the caps are frequently quite elaborate in design, and to carve them by the ordinary methods of handcarving would be so expensive as to practically prohibit their use in any but the most expensive structures. For the purpose of reducing the cost while at the same time preserving the ornamental appearance to the carved wooden cap efforts have been made to produce a cap from a composition of material capable of being molded and resembling the wooden cap in color and general appearance. One of the great defects in caps of this character as heretofore made lies in the fact that they were made in sections or separate parts which were assembled and secured to each other or to a core of wood by cement, and during the vicissitudes of daily use these parts frequently came apart. So great is the difficulty experienced with these sectional compo caps that dealers decline to purchase or place them on sale.

The object of the present invention is to produce a compo cap for mantel-columns and similar structures which shall possess the ornamental appearance of the carved wooden cap, shall be cheaply and easily manufactured, and which shall be strong and serviceable in use.

With this object in View the invention consists in a process of molding a compo cap, which process will be hereinafter more particularly described and then defined in the claims. I

The inventive idea involved may receive various mechanical expressions, and for the sake of illustrating the invention I Will describe one of thesein connection with the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a front elevation of one-quarter of a hand-carved cap suitably mounted in a templet. Fig. 2 is a broken edge view thereof, showing the templet. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of apparatus employed in securing a cast or mold from the carving of Fig. 1. quarter-molds secured as shown in Fig. 3 and assembled so as to form a complete mold. Fig. 5 is a vertical section through the finished cap formed in said mold, and Fig. 6 is a modification of themold shown in Fig. 4.

Referring to Figs. 1, 2, and 3, 1 is a carved portion of a cap, here shown as one-fourth of a cap to a Corinthian column, the carved Fig. 4 is a plan view of four of the portion being one of the four faces of the cap.

and the cap. being divided by cuts running through the cap from the diagonally opposite corners thereof,forrriin g a piece of wood whose face is one of the four faces of the cap and whose sides are planes which meet in the center of the cap at an angle of ninety degrees to each other, as Will be understood from an inspection of Fig. 3. This one-quarter cap 1 is preferably carved in very hard wood and is then mounted in'a V-shaped templet 2, composed of some hard metal, as brass, and having its two lateral edges exactly similar in outline, with the edges of the wood carving com ing exactly out to and conforming in outline to the edges of the templet. The Wood having been mounted in the templet,:ts described, and carved with the desired design, it is, together with its templet, mounted in a block 3, preferably of metal and capable of withstanding great pressure, said block being provided with a V-shaped cavity 4 to receive the carved model and its templet, suitable dowelpins 5 (shown in dotted lines) being provided for determining the exact position of the model 1 in the block 3. In a block 6, of metal or other suitable material, I mount a strong metallic box or receptacle 7, whose bottom line may be either on the arc of a circle, as shown at 8, Fig. 3, or, if preferred, it may be flat, as indicated by dotted line in said figure. While the end walls of the box 7 are preferably vertical, the side walls 9 9 are in planes at an angle of ninety degrees to each other, slanting from the bottom'inward to ward the top. The seat of the box 7 in the block 6 corresponds to the shape of the bottom of said box, being arc-shaped if the bottom of the box 7 is as in full lines Sin Fig. 3

, subject the block 3 to pressure.

and fiat if the bottom is flat, as indicated in dotted lines, and in either case a suitable dowel pin or pins 10 is or are provided for exactly locating the box 7 in its seat. Opposite each side 9 of the box 7 the block 6 is cut away, so as to provide spaces 11. 11, while at its top the box 6 is provided with a mouth or opening, which conforms to the peripheral outline of the wooden model, as viewed in Fig. 1.

The several parts having been provided as above described, I proceed as follows: The carved model 1 is mounted in the block 3, and the face of the model is thoroughly oiled. The box 7 is then placed in position in block 3 and is stuffed with a material or composition which is plastic when hot, but which becomes tough and very hard when cold. Any suitable material may be employed; but I have found a composition of pitch and shellac very suitable for the purpose. This material is stuffed while quite hot into the box 7 until the latter is a little more than full-that is, there is an excess of the hot material at the top and the box is quite filled. I then invert the block 3, with its attached model, overthe block 6, with the face of the wooden model embedded in the hot material, and I prefer to remove the block 3, with the model 1, and oil this latter and again place it in position in the hot plastic material, fepeating this operation several times before the material becomes cold; but this is not essential. When the block 3 is first placed with the model resting upon the plastic material, the faces of the two blocks 3 and 6 do not meet, as shown at 13 in Fig. 3, and it is only after the pressure has been exerted upon the block 3 that the two surfaces so meet, as shown. During the pressure any surplus material is allowed to overflow from the box 7 and escape into the spaces 11 11 on either side of the box. When the two blocks 3 and 6 have been'brought together, as shown in Fig. 3, the outlines of the model 1 and that of the box 7 will exactly coincide, as shown at 12, and the inside planes of the sides of the .templet 2 should form practically continuations of the planes of the sides 9 9 of the box 7, so that I obtain a mold iucased in a metallic box, the outline of the mold exactly corresponding with the mouth or opening in the box, whereby the strong metal box serves as an efficient support and protection to the mold in the molding operations hereinafter described. The parts having been forced into the position shown in Fig. 3, the block 3, with its attached model 1, is removed and the box 7 taken out of the block 6 and another exactly similar box placed in position and the operation repeated until in the case chosen for illustration four of the boxes 7 have been filled with the. hot material and an impression of the model 1 secured therein. These four boxes 7 are then symmetrically arranged, the outline of the four boxes when thus arranged being a perfeet circle, as shown in Fig. 4:, or a square, as shown in Fig. 6, depending upon whether boxes 7 with arc-shaped or flat bottoms have been used in forming the sectional molds. The boxes are then clamped in this position by any suitable clamping device, there shown as a split metal ring 14, Fig. 4, orsquare frame 2, Fig. 6, provided with projecting ears 15 at each end, in one of which ears is pivoted a link 16, having an eccentric lever 17 pivotally mounted on its free end and arranged when the lever is thrown in one direction to force the ears 15 toward each other, and thus clamp the boxes 7 or 20 securely in the ring or frame; but when moved in the reverse direction the lever 17 permits the elasticity of the ring or frame to slightly open and free the boxes. It will be observed that the four boxes thus assembled form a perfect mold for a cap, each of whose sides corresponds to that of the model 1. To form a cap in this mold, I preferably place a wooden block 18, Figs. 4- and 5, in the center of the mold, and then, after thoroughly oiling the surface of the mold, I fill it with aplastic composition preferably hot, and subject the same to great pressure to insure the entrance of the composition into all theinterstices. As the composition for forming the cap I prefer a mixture ofglue, rosin-oil, shellac, and whiting. I may, if desired, omit the block of wood from the center of the cap, thus forming the latter entirely of the composition. The wood, however, forms a convenient medium into which a screw or other device may be inserted to fasten the cap to the column. Whether the wooden block is used or not it will be seen that I secure an integral composition cap, all the ornamental figures of the cap being integral with the main body of the cap, and hence not liable to fall off or become detached therefrom. Furthermore, I largely reduce the first cost of my carved model, in that Ido not carve a full cap, but only one of the symmetrical faces thereof, which in the instance chosen for illustration was one of four faces. By forming the model with exactly similar edges I insure the perfect union of the several parts of the mold into a complete and unbroken whole, and by subjecting the mold in the process of forming to pressure and forming each part in a large mass or box I provide a strong mold capable of withstanding the pressure exerted in molding the cap therein.

Having thus described my invention, I claim 1. The process of forming molded compo caps for columns which consists in carving the face of a symmetrical portion of a cap, taking a number of molds of such carved portion in plastic material, assembling said molds so as to form a complete symmetrical mold for a cap, and then forcing plastic material into said mold under pressure.

2. The process of forming molded compo caps for columns,which consists in'embedding a symmetrical portion of the cap to be molded under pressure in plastic material to form a I sectional molds into a complete mold, filling mold of such portion, repeating the operation said mold with compo material in a'plastic as manytimes as the cap has similar portions, condition, and subjecting this latter to presassembling the molds thus formed into a comsure. l5

5 plete symmetrical mold and forcing plastic In testimony whereof I have signed thismaterial thereinto, and afterward removing specification in the presence of two subscribthe cap therefrom. ing witnesses.

3.'The process of forming molded compo EDGAR S. KENNEDY.

caps for mantel and other columns which con-l Witnesses:

1o sists in forming a plurality of sectional molds S. A. TERRY,

exactly similar in outline, assembling said HERMAN F. MANDLER. 

